Activities of Erik MARQUARDT related to 2020/2255(INL)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION Legal migration policy and law
Amendments (14)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Notes that the 'New Pact on Migration and Asylum' is a holistic attempt to address Europe's migration challenges; stresses however that these challenges origina, taking into account both internal and external dimensions; urges that the root causes of poverty, while working with and for migrants and local communities according to their needs and vulnerabilities, be effectively addressed; notes that despite the fact that most migration to Europe is a regular phenomenon, the Union has devoted outside Europe and urges that the root causes and drivers of migration be effectively addressednly limited attention and resources to seizing the positive contributions that migration can make to sustainable development and societies in countries of origin and destination; calls on the Commission and the Member States to make of the new Pact a tool for harnessing the benefits of migration and for developing and increasing safe and regular legal mobility channels;
Amendment 8 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Recalls that the European Consensus for Development provides for a coordinated, holistic and structured approach to migration, given its cross- cutting nature and considers it as one of the key areas to which Policy Coherence for Development (PCD) applies; in this regard, calls for PCD compliant and regularly assessed external migration policies which contribute to human rights, gender equality and empowerment, poverty eradication and human development;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Recalls Member States’ right to determine their own that Article 79 TFEU provides for the management of legal migration at Union level and commits the Member States to developing a common immigration policiesy; underlines that facilitating labour migration at Union level underminescan benefit Member States’ unique and diverse labour market policies; considers that increasing regular migration channels will not reduce illegal migration or human trafficking by addressing skills gaps and demographic challenges and in this way can be a way forward to lower irregular migration in the long term; considers that well-designed and well-managed legal migration policies can be a source of innovation and economic and social development, beneficial for both countries of origin and host countries; stresses that development support for policies favouring migration through regular channels can be more effective for the long-term and sustainable development of countries in the Global South than policies to modify and control migration;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Recalls that mobility has long been a critical adaptation strategy for populations facing economic, security and environmental pressure in their regions of origin; stresses that tackling the external dimension of legal migration requires Union policies that favour the development of legal and safe migration pathways, in order to reshape rather than prevent migration trends, so as to work with rather than against them; insists that an approach which emphasizes border control and the reduction of migrant arrivals in Europe pushes migrants towards more dangerous routes but will not prevent them from undertaking their journey; underlines that the use of development aid to deter migration has been proven not to reduce migration rates but may instead help them increase;
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2 b. Recalls that as most migrants move within their own region and continent of origin, intra-regional and intra-continental mobility should be facilitated; calls on the EU- Africa partnership and the future OACPs-EU agreement to support intra-regional and intra-continental mobility of persons in accordance with the African Charter of Human rights and the African Union Protocol to the Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community Relating to Free Movement of Persons, Right of Residence and Right of Establishment;
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
Amendment 38 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Underlines that emigration of highly qualifiedin order to prevent that emigration of citizens deprives countries of origin of their human capital and an educatedessential workforce (“brain drain”) and seriously hampers their economic and social development in the long term, it is necessary to provide countries of origin with development assistance in the education and health sector, as well as for better governance and the protection of human rights; calls for the future EU Talent Partnerships to address this issueadequately the issue of brain drain and take on board lessons from the recent EU pilot projects on legal migrationimplementation of Union-funded pilot projects on legal migration; stresses that moving beyond the “pilot” phase, which implies scaling up the amount of projects and funding, will require sustained political and financial support from Member States as well as close cooperation with partner countries to ensure that EU Talent Partnerships can truly reflect shared priorities around mobility and skills and do not focus on destination countries needs only; calls on upcoming EU Talent Partnerships to overcome the shortcomings of the Pilot Projects and therefore: to expand the scope of participants, duration and purpose of trainings, to ensure better social protection and labour rights of participants, not to make such mobility schemes conditional on cooperation of third countries on Union migration management, readmission and return policies, to target more projects towards Subsaharan Africa - in particular in the framework of the EU-Africa partnership;
Amendment 44 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Underlines that the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the important contributions of immigrant workers across the skills spectrum in key sectors such as health care and social care, information and communications technology (ICT), logistics, agriculture, and construction; calls on the Union to develop a more sustainable legal migration policy in partnership with third countries and to ensure safe two-way migration mobility, such as for labour, academic or training purposes which could benefit both, countries of origin and host countries;
Amendment 48 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4 b. Stresses the need to simplify administrative procedures for the recognition of migrants’ qualifications and professional skills; underlines that knowledge and skills’ transfer acquired abroad have been shown to have concrete development benefits in origin countries; recalls that measures to support youth and women’s entrepreneurial activities or to facilitate remittances are other ways in which migrants abroad can invest in their country of origin;
Amendment 55 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
Amendment 66 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls for the appropriate use of the NDICI-Global Europe to contribute to reducing migration flows by stimulating economic growth and development Deplores the fact that less than 1% of Union spending for asylum and migration has been dedicated to expenditure on migration facilitation and mobility including pathways to protection, and in particular to the Union between 2014 and 2019, while around 13% was allocated to addressing migration restriction and reduction measures; notes that there is no long-term assessment of the consequences of the measures on migratory routes and the security situation; calls for the appropriate use of the NDICI-Global Europe to allocate a significant part of its 10% spending earmarked for migration to developing and expanding legal migration policy options including developing new channels for migrants to enter the Union, supporting the freedom of movement within regions outside of Europe, supporting labour mobility schemes, promoting education and study mobility schemes, in particular through the budget line allocated to Erasmus+, facilitating safe arrival in the Union for asylum and non-asylum migration, facilitating the recognition of professional qualifications, supporting pilot projects on legal migration within third countries and in the Union;
Amendment 73 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. Stresses that development support cannot be conditional upon the capacity or willingness of partner countries to cooperate on Union migration policies, as this would undermine the legal obligation of the Union to Policy Coherence for Development and with the European Consensus on Development, and be against the aid effectiveness principle of country ownership; recalls also that ODA must be used for its primary purpose of eradicating poverty and not to support migration management and control or any other actions without development objectives;
Amendment 76 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6 b. Notes that NDICI-Global Europe Regulation foresees mid-term and final evaluations and the detailed annual reporting by the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the ongoing activities, results delivered, effectiveness, as well as progress towards the thematic targets and objectives of that Regulation; calls on the Commission to develop and implement a precise methodology for tracking the 10% expenditure earmarked for migration and forced displacement to effectively ensure proper transparency and accountability regarding this spending, as required in that Regulation;
Amendment 80 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Stresses the need to involve all relevant stakeholders in Europe and partner countrie, including parliaments, NGOs, local authorities and the private sector in Europe and partner countries as well as diaspora organisations in the definition and evaluation of new and existing legal migration strategies; highlights the importance of religious entitiesa structured dialogue with civil society, which play a key role in partner countries, including in conflict resolution.